T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Boyd Jones employees work on a wall at the Franklin Field at Franklin Elementary yesterday. The field is getting an upgrade as part of the Reimagine Miller project.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final entry of a three-part series covering updated information for the Reimagine Miller project.)

The first part of the Reimagine Miller project is underway — revamping Franklin Field — and Boyd Jones Construction representative Michael Martin gave the school board the latest updates during a Marshalltown Community School District Board of Education work session on Monday.

Before Martin’s update, Boyd Jones Project Manager Pete Perez told the board they will provide monthly updates on the project to keep the district informed on the status.

“One of the things that’s been extremely surprising is the amount of rain we’ve had in the 42, 45 days we’ve been on site,” he said. ” . . . I can tell you that measure of rainfall is over 20 inches. So some of the things you will see happening out there is to try and dry the site so that construction activities can continue.”

The ground was broken on the $7.8 million Franklin Field project in May, and work should be completed before the end of 2025. The renovation includes an updated six-lane track, synthetic turf and field similar to Marshalltown High School, improved lighting, a new concession, restroom and storage facility, bleachers and an expanded west parking lot.

Martin told the board the latest big work push has been the footings and retaining walls.

“With the rain, we’re just about almost through the entire southside — by the end of the week,” he said.

Due to the rain and to keep progress going, Martin said they have looked into alternative ways to pour the walls, such as pouring from the street. They have also looked at additional on-site drainage and drainage tile which will help with the construction and the facility in the future.

Some of the work that has been completed is most of the on-site demolition, with the exception of a few items such as the ticket booth. Sheet piling is finished along 13th and Main streets to help with retaining walls. In a joint venture with the the City of Marshalltown, the 48-inch sewer line has been completely replaced.

“As far as trying to be mindful of the storm retention since we’re going to a turf field, we put in a detention pond that has been since complete as well, just right before we got a lot of this rain,” he said, before adding they will eventually place turf on the detention pond.

Martin added that they are three-quarters of the way finished with the retaining walls on the south side. The next push will be finishing the retaining walls on the east side

Soon, Martin said residents might see the field be turned a white color for a little while. This is to treat the soil, which will be tilled. He said work on site utilities will begin this week.

“So, basically taking everything — storm, sewer, electrical from the mains — bringing them up to that new concession stand, and then focusing in on that east retaining wall,” Martin said. “That’s the biggest retaining wall we have on site.”

More work to come will take place on the west parking lot, in which 12 to 15 parking spots for teachers will be added. He said the lot will be open before the beginning of the 2025-26 school year on Aug. 18. Focus will also be placed on the food service entrance during the next few weeks in time for deliveries which begin in the middle of August.

Martin estimated that futurecast turf will probably be placed in late August or early September.

“You’ll start to see these things coming together,” he said. “We just have to get out of the ground at this time.”

For the project schedule, Martin said they are focused on completing the retaining walls, and the preschool and intermediate playgrounds, the west parking lot and the food service delivery before school starts.

“Those are the main criteria to have done before that Aug. 18 date, and then we kind of go back into the push to get the field and the track put in,” he said.

Martin added since the project started, 25 to 30 crew members have put in 3,000 hours of work without injuries. For the budget, he added they have managed to save $50,000 of the budget. He said they worked with local contractor Con-Struct to identify different methods on shoring the retaining walls.

“That’ll be coming back as a credit to the district,” Martin said. “. . . So very comfortable in our budget. Our goal is to obviously give a return as much as possible. So, we’ll continue to update this on a monthly basis.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.